


Codependency

by howldax



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Amputation, Angst, Blood, Blood Loss, Emotions, Gen, Gratuitous Stuttering, Guilt, Heavy Angst, Mild Gore, Permanent Injury, Swearing, brief descriptions of gore, references to alcoholism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-20 03:54:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4772555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howldax/pseuds/howldax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Look, Morty, it isn't – eugh – that bad – quit bein' a pussy-”</p><p>“Rick! How can you say i-it's not that bad, it's my hand! It's not there any more, that's r-really bad, oh m-man-”</p><p>“We'll get home, getcha all stitched up, Morty, you'll be – shit, keep your eyes open, Morty, don't give up, Morty, just keep 'em – eugh – keep 'em open-”</p><p>“There's s-so m...much blood, Rick,” Morty moaned, sweat beading on his pale forehead and covering his face in an unhealthy sheen. Rick glanced over from the driver's seat and felt a stab of real fear in his stomach; his attempts to keep Morty from panicking, to act normal, were falling flat at the sight of a bloody, twisted stump where Morty's hand should have been, the blood drenching his clothes and soaking through the cloth Morty was desperately pressing to the gushing wound.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Codependency

**Author's Note:**

> I've just written this and it's unbeta'd, but will read through tomorrow and correct any mistakes I find. hope you enjoy ^-^

“Look, Morty, it isn't – _eugh_ – that bad – quit bein' a pussy-”

 

“Rick! How can you say i-it's not that bad, it's my hand! It's not _there_ any more, that's r-really bad, oh m-man-”

 

“We'll get home, getcha all stitched up, Morty, you'll be – shit, keep your eyes open, Morty, don't give up, Morty, just keep 'em – _eugh_ – keep 'em open-”

 

“There's s-so m...much blood, Rick,” Morty moaned, sweat beading on his pale forehead and covering his face in an unhealthy sheen. Rick glanced over from the driver's seat and felt a stab of real fear in his stomach; his attempts to keep Morty from panicking, to act normal, were falling flat at the sight of a bloody, twisted stump where Morty's hand should have been, the blood drenching his clothes and soaking through the cloth Morty was desperately pressing to the gushing wound.

 

“We'll be home soon, got something in the garage that'll fix you right up, right as rain, l-like it never happened,” Rick said, struck sober by terror that he couldn't shove aside. His fingers twitched for his flask where it was tucked into his belt but he couldn't risk it, couldn't slow down or stop steering even for a moment – Morty would bleed out, and for once Rick had to be selfless, ignore how much he wanted to drown everything out and focus on Morty where he was bleeding all over the dash and floor of the ship. “'s gonna be al-alright, _Muh_ -orty, you j-just gotta, gotta hold on, okay?” He was stuttering from nerves more than alcohol, for once, and Morty was trying to form words but losing them in whispered breaths as he lost more and more blood.

 

“Rick, oh man,” Morty murmured, almost to himself. “Mom and Dad aren't gonna like this, they w-w-won't w-want me going on adventures with you anymore-”

 

“For once, I'd thhhhink about agreeing with those imbeciles,” Rick teased hoarsely, half-suppressing a burp. They were in Earth's atmosphere now, not far from the garage, and if Morty could just hold on that long – he'd been too careless, running out of the serum that'd fixed Morty's broken legs and not replenishing his stock immediately, fucking idiot, but that didn't matter now, nothing would matter if Morty died. Rick had seen Ricks without their Mortys, how broken up they were inside, and none of their Mortys were as special as his, as irreplaceable.

 

“W-w-w-when I'm d-dead,” Morty breathed, his hand now too weak to press the cloth to his stump with any force, “t-t-tell Mom and Dad I love them, and Summer, and-”

 

“Shut up, asshole, you aren't dying anytime soon – remember what I said? Rick and Morty forever and forever, 100 years, Rick and Morty all day long, www-dot-rickandmorty-dot-com, rem – _eugh_ – remember? I meant it, Morty, you aren't going anywhere, I won't let you fucking die, you fucking _dumbass_!”

 

They landed in the garage as Morty opened his mouth to speak, but Rick was already out of the ship by the time he formed the words. Morty watched with blurry eyes as Rick sprinted around the garage, his lab coat flapping out behind him like the wings of a giant bat. “Rick,” he tried to say, but nothing came out, his lips barely even moving. He felt made of cotton wool or something, something more specific, but he was too tired to think about it, too tired to think at all.

 

He drifted. There were flashes of green and a few crashing noises, but Morty couldn't move his head to see what was happening, and after a while it was easier to just close his eyes and go to sleep. He hoped he'd see Rick in his dreams; after all, what was a Morty without a Rick?

 

It took a few minutes for Rick to get all the necessary equipment – he had to steal a syringe of blood replenishment formula from right under the noses of a guard of Gronflomites, and he didn't have anything to stop the bleeding other than an iron, which would probably give the kid a blood infection and kill him anyway, so he had to portal to the Andromeda quadrant to get artificial skin seeing as he didn't have time to make his own – but he was soon back with his arms piled high with medical equipment.

 

“Alright – alright Morty, I got everything we need, just gotta _guh_ \- gotta get you on the table,” Rick said, opening the passenger door and scooping Morty up in his arms. Morty felt heavier without any personality goin' on, and colder. Rick put a finger to his neck and felt nothing, just smooth and unmoving skin, until there was a sluggish pulse of blood under his finger and he had to stop himself collapsing to the floor or taking a long swig from his flask as the relief hit him. Instead he swept the workbench clear with one arm and dumped Morty on it none too gently, barely stopping his head from smacking into the metal.

 

The skin was the first thing that had to be done. Rick didn't bother cutting out the shape needed, just slapped the entire thing over Morty's stump and pressed it into place along the flat of the stump and to halfway up his forearm, waiting for the faint crackle-zipper noise of skin-to-artificial-skin fusion in process before he grabbed the blood-replenishment solution and jammed the needle straight into Morty's heart, pushing the syringe down with shaking hands.

 

“This better work, Morty,” Rick said to the silent body on his workbench. “I can't live without ya, Morty, couldn't do it – you're a fucking idiot, but I need you, and not just for yo _eugh –_ your brainwaves, kid, Morty, you're family, Morty, don't leave me – remember? Rick and Morty forever, forever x100, that's how it's gotta be. I got plenty more seeds for you to shove up your ass, Morty, hundreds of hot aliens who won't birth you some kinda alien freak-kid, so many more dimensions to show you, Morty. Don't make me do that shit without you, y-you selfish bastard.”

 

“You're even more of a dick when you're scared,” Morty whispered, grinning a little. His cheeks looked less like wax and more like actual skin, and it was like Rick had regained everything he's ever lost in that one moment, pure ecstasy coasting through his veins.

 

“Morty! Fuck, Morty, shit – don't ever d-do that to me again, you hear?”

 

“Don't ever take me to a planet of carniverous rhino-aliens who w-worship the taste of human flesh again and I won't,” Morty said, voice a little stronger and his eyes now open, meeting Rick's red-rimmed ones. At some point he'd started crying without noticing, but now he could feel the stickiness of drying tears on his cheeks.

 

“You've got yourself a deal,” Rick said, and took Morty's limp hand in his. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> may do some kind of sequel to this but unsure, please leave kudos and/or comments, I love seeing them and getting feedback!


End file.
